Reversing Falsehood and Preserving Truth: All Gods and Gods Are in My Hands

Lu Yu dared not run, fearing it would attract unnecessary attention, so he could only slow down as much as possible, his eyes fixed on the mirror at the corner of the stairs—

The mirror only showed his own reflection; he was thin and pale, with no other visible signs of distress.

But the words "Don't look back" echoed repeatedly in his mind like a classic line from a horror movie, making him tense all over.

Stepping out of the teaching building, the lingering heat of late summer hit him, mixed with the scent of sycamore leaves. What should have been familiar now felt strange and suffocating.

Lu Yu took out his phone, his fingers trembling as he opened his contacts and searched for the name "Lin Xi"—but after searching three times, from A to Z, he couldn't find the name anywhere in his contacts.

My heart sank.

He opened the class chat group again and scrolled through hundreds of chat records. From the homework notice in the morning to the commotion after class just now, no one mentioned Lin Xi. Even the topic of Zhang Hao's confession was only met with jokes like "Brother Hao is brave" and "It's not shameful to fail to confess." Not a single word was mentioned about who the person being confessed to was.

It was as if Lin Xi had never existed in this class.

Lu Yu slid down against the trunk of a sycamore tree, the cool bark against his back slightly easing his palpitations. He opened his photo album, searching for a group photo from the last class activity—

In the photo, Zhang Hao is standing in the third row. The spot where Lin Xi should have been standing diagonally in front of him is empty, with not even a trace of her clothes from when the photo was taken.

"Impossible..." he muttered to himself, his fingertips icy cold. "I clearly saw her paintings, I clearly saw her standing there..."

Just then, a soft footstep stopped in front of him, carrying a faint smell of paint.

Lu Yu suddenly looked up, his body tensing as if pricked by a needle, and his hand holding the ancient coin subconsciously hid behind his back.

The person standing in front of her was not Zhang Hao, but Su Wan.

Su Wan carried a slightly worn drawing board on her back, her long, black, Chinese-style hair loosely tied back, with two wisps of hair hanging down by her temples, making her profile look soft and gentle. There were a few patches of paint of different shades on her faded school uniform skirt, as if she had accidentally smudged it while tidying up the drawing board, but it did not look messy at all, but rather exuded a casual elegance.

Her eyes were bright, like they held the starlight of a summer night, yet they carried a hint of barely perceptible wariness. She stood upright, her hands resting lightly on the easel's shoulder strap, as quiet as a traditional Chinese ink painting.

Lu Yu had a strong impression of her.

She sat diagonally behind Lu Yu, and like Lin Xi, she was an art student. Occasionally, she would look up at the sycamore trees outside the window, her eyes vacant, as if she had something on her mind.

During the last art class, when he got up to pick up his pen, he accidentally knocked her pen to the ground. Her face instantly turned as red as a ripe apple, but she only whispered, "It's okay." When she bent down to pick it up, her long hair fell down, covering most of her face, only revealing her small chin. She was too shy to say another word, and even when picking up the pen, she did so very quietly, as if afraid of disturbing others.

"Are you... alright?"

Su Wan's voice was soft, tinged with hesitation.

Lu Yu's guard instantly went up. Instead of answering directly, he asked, "Why didn't you leave?"

"I was a little slow packing up my easel," Su Wan said, taking a half-step back to create some safe distance. "I saw you standing there in the hallway earlier, and you didn't look too good."

Her words were ambiguous, neither mentioning Lin Xi nor Zhang Hao, but her bright eyes held an unease similar to Lu Yu's.

Lu Yu's heart skipped a beat.

She saw it too?

Or is it that she simply feels something is wrong with her?

He tightened his grip on the ancient coin, deliberately probing, "It's nothing, I'm just a little dizzy from studying too much lately."

Su Wan's eyes flickered, but she didn't reply. Instead, she looked towards the teaching building and lowered her voice, "Just now...did you see the girl standing opposite Zhang Hao in the corridor?"

Lu Yu's heart started pounding, and his blood rushed to his head.

She definitely saw it!

Just as he was about to admit it, his phone vibrated again in his pocket; it was the same unfamiliar number.

"Don't say it, don't believe it!"

The text message was like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing his momentary impulse.

Yes, you can't trust anyone.

Zhang Hao is a monster, the homeroom teacher Liu Jing's behavior is abnormal, and although Su Wan in front of him looks harmless, why did she have to appear at this time?

Lu Yu composed himself and deliberately frowned: "Which girl? I didn't notice, the corridor was too noisy just now."

Su Wan's eyes darkened, as if she were both disappointed and relieved. Her fingertips unconsciously gripped the strap of the easel, her nails turning slightly white. "It's nothing, maybe I misread it."

The two fell silent, with only the chirping of cicadas rising and falling by the roadside. An awkward yet wary atmosphere filled the air, like a fully drawn bowstring, neither daring to loosen its grip first.

"Are you going home to practice drawing?" Lu Yu asked, trying to break the silence and probe a little further.

"Yes, that's right." Su Wan nodded, finally raising her eyes to look directly into his, her gaze filled with urgency, as if trying to confirm something. "I just saw Zhang Hao... he was... very strange."

She didn't specify what it was, nor did she mention the fog or the tentacles. Her description was vague and general, as if it were just "strange" but also as if she was carefully conveying a signal.

Lu Yu's brain was working at lightning speed.

If Su Wan really saw the truth, why didn't she just say it directly?

"He's alright, he's just too nervous, his face is all red." Lu Yu decided to continue pretending and observe her reaction.

Su Wan's eyes dimmed, and she gently shook her head, not asking any further questions.

Just then, a noisy sound of footsteps came from behind, and several boys walked over with their arms around each other's shoulders, among them Zhang Hao.

He was laughing and joking with the people around him, looking no different from usual, but the moment he looked at Lu Yu, the ancient coins in Lu Yu's pocket started to get slightly warm again.

Su Wan also saw Zhang Hao, her body tensed instantly, and she subconsciously moved closer to Lu Yu, her voice extremely low: "Let's go quickly."

Before Lu Yu could react, she had already turned and walked towards another path, her steps hurried, her long hair swaying slightly with her movements. She didn't dare to run, but just tried to quicken her pace.

Lu Yu hesitated for a moment, glanced at Zhang Hao who was getting closer and closer, then glanced at Su Wan in front of him, and finally followed.

He didn't know who Su Wan was, nor whether he should believe her, but at least for now, they were perhaps the only two people who "remembered" Lin Xi and felt that something was wrong with Zhang Hao.

The two walked in silence, passing through two alleys until the school was out of sight. Su Wan stopped, panting, and turned back: "It should be alright now."

Just then, Lu Yu's phone vibrated again.

This time it was caller ID, and the contact name was "Mom." The familiar contact name made Lu Yu's tense nerves relax a little.

The moment the call connected, Lin Hui's familiar, gentle voice came through the receiver, filled with concerned chatter: "Xiaoyu, are you out of school yet? Why aren't you home yet? I made your favorite sweet and sour pork ribs tonight."

There was nothing unusual; it was just a mother's usual concern for her son, warm and reassuring.

Lu Yu's grip on his phone loosened slightly, a warm feeling welling up inside him, and his eyes even started to sting.

In these days when even classmates disappear and no one remembers, my mother's nagging concern became the only comfort I could hold onto.

"Almost there, I'll be home soon." Lu Yu's voice had a slight, barely perceptible hoarseness.

After hanging up the phone, the two didn't say anything more and tacitly turned around and walked in different directions. After a few steps, Lu Yu subconsciously looked back and saw Su Wan's long hair swaying gently behind her before she quickly disappeared into the alley.

Unbeknownst to Lu Yu, after turning the corner of the alley, Su Wan hurriedly removed her easel, squatted in the corner, and quickly sketched on the paper with her pen.

In the school corridor after class, a blurry figure appeared, its outline resembling a human, yet extending outwards with countless fine lines, like tentacles, exuding an indescribable eeriness.